Hino plans new truck, new facilities

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Rick Weber, Trailer-Body Builders  /  December 7, 2017

Coverage from the recent NTEA Truck Product Conference, a look at the critical details of new and coming-soon equipment from the chassis manufacturers, and what the changes mean for upfitters and truck body builders.

Hino has big plans to bolster its US operations by introducing a new truck line and adding new facilities.

Hino is making its entry into the heavy-duty vocational Class 7 and entry-level Class 8 day cab markets with a new line of trucks that will be introduced in 2019.

The trucks will be powered by Hino’s A09, 9-liter engine. Already sold in many other markets around the world, the Hino A09 engine has ranges of 300 hp to 360 hp and 860 lb-ft to 1150 lb-ft of torque.

Hino is planning a public reveal of the new truck March 7 at The Work Truck Show 2018. In April, it will release 100 demos into the market.

The new line of trucks will be produced at a new Hino truck assembly plant in Mineral Wells, West Virginia, close to the current Hino plant. Hino is purchasing a former Coldwater Creek women’s clothing distribution center and converting it into a new truck assembly plant. The new facility is expected to open in early 2019 and will also house cab assembly, which is currently done in Japan. Hino plans to invest $100 million in the new plant, creating about 250 new jobs by early 2020 over a two-shift operation.

As part of Hino’s growth plan, the company broke ground on a $20 million corporate office in Novi, Michigan, in August. Hino is consolidating all operations in its new corporate headquarters, including sales, marketing, service, engineering, purchasing, and manufacturing. Hino’s Insight Diagnostic Center, which monitors vehicle performance and uptime for all Hino trucks equipped with Insight, will also operate out of the Novi headquarters.

“What’s really special for us is that it’s both a sales and manufacturing building,” said Dominik Beckman, director of marketing and dealer operations. “So both headquarters will be combined into one and we will be able to gain synergies from that. There is very little we can accomplish independently of each other.”

Jeff Minnis, senior manager of product planning, gave the 19MY updates and explained seven items that will change for COE trucks:

• Van light circuit and switch option. It reduces the installation time of the van light. The switch will include lit indicator and the harness will be available in all COE chassis. The switch relay and fuse will require purchase and installation, if not ordered as a factory option.

• PTO switch assembly. Hino is easing the installation of a PTO by offering a prewired switch in the cab. It includes a PTO switch with lit indicator, the Hino PTO programming option for plug-and-play PTO installation, and a 12V lit indicator, ECM input wire, and 12V for PTO solenoid engagement.

• Additional vocational signals—in cab. A pass-through harness can be used to reroute the circuit to the rear of the chassis. Connector A: neutral, reverse, park brake, speed, stop, right-hand turn, left-hand turn (right-hand and left-hand mirror-constant signal wire for backup camera). It’s standard equipment and current wires will remain; ignition wire power circuit will have increased amperage capacity.

• Additional vocational signal—aft cab. There are three new interface points behind the cab: the trailer brake fuse/relay block connector; trailer brake fuse/relay block PN# 82241-426A0; and pass-through harnesses to deliver power and signals to the rear of the chassis (one six-pin connector consisting of 5–0.50mm^2 wires and one two-pin connector consisting of 1–2.00mm^2 wire). There are two new interface points at the end of the frame: one three-pin connector with reverse, stop, and tail light signals; and one three-pin connector with turn left, turn right, (flashing) and ground wire.

• Addition of 5.142 rear axle ratio.

• AGM battery diesel-option. “Today, if you order a cabover hybrid, you get the AGM battery. If you order diesel, you do not. In 19MY, you have the option for the AGM battery. It’s not as easy as taking one battery out and dropping the other one in. It’s a completely different bracketry change and cable change. So if you want AGM on your diesel, you should order it from the factory that way.”

• Orange seat belt option—factory. “It’s a current option today, but the gray seat belt has to be swapped out for orange. In 19MY if you order it, it will come from the factory with orange seat belts.”

He said there are two running changes that occurred in the previous six to eight months:

• 55-gallon fuel tank hole 149” wb. “We have an option for a 55-gallon aluminum fuel tank mounted where the current side tank is mounted. Previously, to mount it you had to drill the holes. Now the holes will be pre-drilled. It makes it easier on our side, but also if you decide you want to add that 55-gallon tank at your facility or at a dealer, then there’s no more drilling of holes.”

• Long wheelbase (195 single and double cab).

He said there are six items that will change for conventional trucks:

• Wider cab entry steps. “Both the passenger and driver side steps will gain about an inch and a half. It’ll be a wider, safer step.”

• 3 AGM battery option.

• Cowl harness connector. “On the cabover and the conventional, we utilize two different connectors in the telematics system. One was an 8-pin and the other was 10. Most connectors will go to the 10-pin. You won’t have to carry an additional harness anymore.”

• Fuel level indicator. This allows an increase in the amount of fuel available before triggering the “E” lamp on the fuel-level indicator. The lamp will be triggered with 9.2 gallons left on the 2019MY 230hp trucks, instead of 13.3, and 10.6 gallons left on 260hp trucks, instead of 13.3.

• Fuel sense 2.0. “We did some testing on our own and got 6% better fuel consumption than Fuel Sense 1.0.”

• Exterior grab handle. It will be standard on conventional trucks on both the driver and passenger side. The handle color is silver. The passenger side is not available in combination with vertical exhaust.

He provided five running changes on the conventional side:

• Rear shock upper mount relocation. Hino relocated the upper rear shock absorber mount for low center-of-gravity car carrier bodies. The 258LP or ALP are equipped with air ride as standard.

• Extension harness for air tank pressure sensor, diff lock and suspension dump valve. “Previously, you could order a chassis harness extension in three different lengths but they did not include air tank pressure sensors or diff lock and suspension drum valves. Now, you don’t have to cut and splice wires. They’re all sealed connectors.”

• 3000 RDS transmission option. “It’s currently available on the 338 and now we will open it up to 268 hydraulic models.”

• Two or three Enersys battery option.

•  Battery disconnect switch and jump start stud—factory. “Previously, this was an option but it was a modification. Now, you can order the disconnect switch and also that switch has enough length on the cable it is run through so you can move it into the cab on the left hand side of the driver seat on the floor. You don’t have to modify the harness at all.”